Skip to content
Boys Sports Menu
Boys Sports

Cross Country

Welcome to Jaguar Cross Country

IMG 8810

2021 season

The Ankeny Centennial boys cross country team had another great year in 2021. The Jaguars qualified for the state meet in Fort Dodge, finishing 14th.

This past season, more than 60 athletes participated in boys cross country.

Follow Ankeny Centennial boys cross country on Twitter.

Team Handbook

MISSED PRACTICES
Absence from practice must be excused in advance whenever possible. There are four legitimate reasons for missing practice. They are:

  1. Illness- Please let me know this by having the attendance clerk leave me a message or call me at the high school. School rules require you to be at school all day in order to practice or compete in a meet. More details below.
  2. Injury- Come to practice for announcements, then you and the coaches will discuss the extent of your injury and possible alternative workouts.
  3. Family emergencies- This is self-explanatory. Once again, try to get me a message as soon as possible.
  4. Other school responsibilities- I have no problem with you being involved in other activities, in fact I encourage it. Just let me know, in advance, of conflicts and we’ll work something out.

Any missed practices for reasons other than those mentioned are unexcused. Some examples are: vacations, work, detention, non-emergency appointments. The consequences for unexcused absences are as follows:

  1. First miss- miss next meet
  2. Second miss- miss next meet
  3. Third miss-dismissal from team

School policy 503.60 states that “a student may participate in non-school extracurricular activities while participating in District extracurricular activities, if the non-school activities are not in season for the District and if this participation does not conflict with regularly scheduled District sponsored practices, games, activities, or competitive events.”

WHO RUNS VARSITY?

Our varsity team will be our top (usually 7) runners at that point in the season. The coaches will choose the top individuals, usually based on time from the previous meet. Anyone in good standing, regardless of grade level, is eligible to run varsity. For our first meet we will have a time trial for all runners. Those who have been to all the preseason practices may be given special consideration in choosing the varsity for our first meet.

The coaching staff will choose the varsity team for the championship meets (CIML, District, & State). This may not be the top 7 times from the previous meet. A number a factors will go into these important coaching decisions.

WHO RUNS JUNIOR VARSITY?

If the meet offers a freshmen/sophomore division all ninth and tenth graders will run in that race and juniors and seniors not on varsity will run JV. If there is not a freshmen/sophomore race our JV team will be made up of our #8 through #14 runners regardless of grade level. There may be times when the coaches choose to enter a younger runner in the JV race to offer him different competition.

SCHOOL ATTENDANCE POLICY

You must be in attendance ALL DAY to be eligible to practice or participate in any meet that day. You must clear all Dr. appointments with the office one day in advance in order for it to be an excused absence and be eligible to participate that day.

Any athlete who spends all day or the afternoon (after 4th period) in in-school suspension is not eligible for participation in any practice or meet that day. Students suspended on Friday are eligible for Saturday provided they are not to return to in-school suspension the following Monday.

Tobacco, Alcohol, & Controlled Substance Policy

Please refer to the current Student/Parent Handbook for the details on current board policy for tobacco, alcoholic beverages, and controlled substances.

LETTERING STANDARDS

To earn a Varsity “j” in cross country the athlete must meet all 3 of the following criteria:

  1. You must finish the season in good standing according to school and team expectations.
  2. You must maintain a good attitude, good citizenship, cooperation, and work towards improvement during the season. This includes being at meets and practices.
  3. You must equal or better at least one of these performance conditions:
    1. Run an average time of 18:00 or faster in a minimum of six accurately measured 5k races. All races will be included in the calculation.
    2. Participate in at least 50% of the meets as a varsity runner.
    3. Finish in the top 20 positions in the Conference Varsity race, or in the top 30 positions in the District Meet, or in the top 90 positions in the State Meet.

Note: Seniors do not automatically letter in cross country although we do take into consideration years of participation and attitude during that time.

SCHOOL ISSUED CLOTHING

You will be issued a running uniform (top and shorts) Keep them clean and in good repair. The school will charge you for lost or damaged equipment.

We will wear only our school issued uniforms at meets, but at practice you may wear your own clothing including rain gear.

ANKENY CENTENNIAL CC TEAM EXPECTATIONS

We are not coaches who have a huge list of rules and regulations. That’s not our style and fortunately over the years we’ve had top quality gentlemen to work with so we haven’t had to change. The following requests are ones we seem to make year after year so we are putting them in writing to help emphasize their importance.

  • We expect you to treat your teammates with respect. Everyone on our team should feel accepted and safe.
  • We expect you to meet all deadlines (physicals, part. fee, uniforms returned, etc.)
  • We expect you to conduct yourself properly before practice.
  • We expect you to conduct yourself properly at meets. We are a highly respected team for our behavior as well as our running. Never do anything to embarrass us.
  • We expect you to conduct yourself properly outside of meet and practice times. This is includes when we come home to Ankeny after meets. Remember, you are representing all of us. Have fun, but not at the expense of others. You are watched especially closely when wearing that uniform!
  • We expect you to do the workouts as requested.
    • Follow the exact route
    • Respect private and public property
    • Stay left and on sidewalks whenever possible
    • Don’t block traffic (run single file if necessary)
    • Run the speed and effort as requested
  • Above all, BE A GENTLEMAN worthy of representing Ankeny Centennial Cross Country. Remember this at practice, during meets, on weekends, and at school.
  • WE LIVE THE JAGUAR CREED